The Enbrighten Zigbee switches I installed in some rooms work exactly as you note, if the zigbee network collapses for some reason, they still control the outlet or light they are hard wired to like any other dumb switch. I think for hardwired switches this is the normal behavior. For anything like Hue or Ikea Tradfri switches that are battery powered I think it highly depends on what they are connected to.

Solid wood is generally understood to be lumber or timber, that is pieces of wood sawn from a tree. This is distinct from engineered wood or manufactured wood products which include MDF, plywood, and OSB. Engineered wood is made of fibers or strands that are pressed or glued, there is more in the final stock than just wood (I.e., glue, lignin separated via heating and pressing).

In addition, all the secured loans they take make them look on paper as though they are deeply in debt and that debt then is a tax write off. This further lowers their tax brackets so they pay even less. Add to this that in the US at least only income is taxed, all of the stocks, options, and other assets they hold are non-taxable since they aren’t cash; technically their value can (and does) change regularly and they can become worthless just as easily as they can gain value and so it was determined they aren’t income since nothing is realized until they are sold.

That indeed looks like exactly what they are, which I should have known since I have a bunch of UniFi gear at home. I wonder what PennDOT is using them for.

Like most here I work in IT. Unlike most here I have a BS in earth sciences (meteorology). While in school I did some summer volunteer work for the NWS near my home outside of DC that I found through an Alum that worked there. After I finished school that turned into a full time federal contractor position doing instrumentation testing and design. The facility was smaller and so I split my time with my friend (the alum that helped me in the first place) doing IT work. A few years down the road and I got a masters in information security (because sometimes a piece of paper matters). I turned that into a full time IT position at the same facility (still as a contractor).

For personal reasons I later moved out of state which was pretty difficult to find a job, most places assume you want relocation assistance or otherwise aren’t interested in out of state applicants. I used an employment agency to help, and got a good job as a jack of all trades IT admin at a small engineering company (about 200 employees total). I stayed there for a few years before moving to a large enterprise. I wanted to go somewhere with growth potential. I liked that job and made a lot of great friends and professional contacts. I ended up leaving for a verity of reasons (bad management, poor company outlook, and seeking more stability).

I eventually found my current job through someone I was working with who moved to my current company. I work for a national laboratory doing IT security work making good money in a super stable career (I’m a contractor so protected from a lot of the politics but the lab does work for the DOD so funding is never really in question).

My general tips would be:

1. Get to know alum at your school (if you choose to go to school)
2. Don’t be afraid to work outside your major
3. Start broad then generalize. I work with tons of folks that specialized in their field from the start, and while they are super smart at the one thing, they are locked into it and often can’t see the forest through the trees. Having a broad base makes it way easier to ask questions that help move projects forward.
4. Ask dumb questions. Chances are if you don’t understand it, others don’t either. Don’t be afraid to look ignorant, every good manager I’ve ever worked for has rewarded curiosity and questioning as long as it’s productive generally.
5. Know when to cut your losses and look elsewhere. This may be the millennial in me, but you don’t owe your company anything. Know when you’re unhappy and talk with management to see if there’s a solution. If not (or if management is the problem) look to move somewhere else.
6. Goes with the above but the best time to find a job (and usually a promotion with it) is when you have a job.

These are small cell antennas, generally used for mmWave 5G due to the poor penetration the high frequency signals have or to increase capacity of a network where a lot of devices are used in a small space (places like stadiums, airports, city centers, etc) in which case they may have LTE antennas as well. They usually cover about a city blocks worth of area so you’ll see them spaced much like you describe.

The box on the ground is the actual radio and power supplies with the antennas behind the shroud on the pole. You’ll sometimes also see the radio cabinet mounted about 1.5m up the pole so it’s off the ground.

Source: a company I used to work for installed these (Crown Castle).